Socialist Party (France)
France's first socialist party, the French Workers' Party (
Parti Ouvrier Français) was founded in
1880 by
Jules Guesde and
Paul Lafargue (the son-in-law of
Karl Marx). But in
1882 it split into two factions, a
Marxist group led by Guesde and a moderate or "Possibilist" group led by
Paul Brousse. Further splits followed, and none of the various socialist groups had much electoral success. They were hemmed in between the middle class liberals of the
Radical Party and the revolutionary
syndicalists who dominated the trade unions.
In
1899 there was a realignment of French socialism, with the formation of the Socialist Party of France (Parti Socialiste de France) on the left and the French Socialist Party (Parti Socialiste Français) on the right, led by
Alexandre Millerand. In
1905, however, these two parties united under the leadership of
Jean Jaurès in the Parti Socialiste Unifié, which then formed the
Section Française de l'Internationale Ouvrière (SFIO - French Section of the
Second International). The French socialists were strongly pacifist, but following the assassination of Jaurès in
1914 they were unable to resist the wave of militarism which followed the outbreak of
World War I.
The Socialists suffered a severe split over participation in the wartime government of national unity. In
1919 the anti-war socialists were heavily defeated in elections. The left-wing of the party broke away and formed the
French Communist Party in
1920. The right wing, led by
Léon Blum, kept the "old house" and remained in the French Section of the Workers' International (
Section Française de l'Internationale Ouvrière or SFIO).
In
1922 and again in
1924, the Socialists joined with the Radicals in the Coalitions of the Left (Cartels des Gauches), but refused actually to join the non-Socialist governments led by the Radicals
Edouard Herriot and
Edouard Daladier. These governments failed because the Socialists and the Radicals could not agree on economic policy, and also because the powerful Communist Party, following the policy laid down by the
Soviet Union, refused to support "bourgeois" governments.
In
1934, the Communists changed their line, and the three parties came together in the
Popular Front, which won the
1936 elections and brought Blum to power as France's first socialist prime minister. Within a year, however, his government collapsed over economic policy and also over the issue of the
Spanish Civil War. The demoralised left fell apart and was unable to resist the collapse of the French republic after the military defeat of
1940.
After the liberation of France in
1944, the SFIO re-emerged under the new leadership of
Guy Mollet, who was Prime Minister at the head of a minority government in
1956. But the party was in decline, as were the Radicals, the left never came close either to forming a united front or to winning an election during the Fourth Republic. The SFIO reached its lowest ebb in the 1960s.
In order to exist between the Communist Party, which had the leadersip on the left, and the
Gaullist Party, which had the leadership on the country, the SFIO, Radicals, and leftwing republican groups created the
Federation of the Democratic and Socialist Left. But unable to benefit from the
May 68 events, it exploded after the disastrous defeat at the
June 1968 legislative elction. One year later, the SFIO candidate
Gaston Defferre is eliminated at the first round of the
1969 presidential election, with only 5% of votes.
The SFIO is replaced by the Socialist Party in 1969 (
Issy les Moulineaux Congress). Two years later, it was joined by several republican leftwing groups led by
François Mitterrand, who had been a conservative before the war and an independent of the left during the 1950s. He took the lead in 1971 during the
Epinay Congress. He conquered the majority in the party in proposing a strategic choice: the reconciliation with the Communists. In 1972, the Common Programm was signed with the PCF and Leftwing Radicals. In
1974 Mitterrand came close to winning a presidential election, and the Socialists became the dominant party of the left.
In
1981 Mitterrand defeated the incumbent conservative,
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, to become the first socialist elected
President of France by the univeral suffrage. He was the last elected national leader in Europe to attempt to carry out a socialist agenda, furthering the
dirigiste trends of the preceding conservative governments. The Prime minister
Pierre Mauroy nationalised the banks, the insurance industry and the defence industries. Workers' wages were increased and their working hours reduced, and many other sweeping reforms carried out. As a result there was a flight of capital from France (the traditional response of the French business class to threats from the left), and a severe economic crisis. As early as 1982, Mitterrand faced a clear choice between maintaining France's membership of the European Monetary System, and thus the country's commitment to European construction, and pursuing his socialist policies. He chose the former, starting the Socialist Party's conversion to the market economy.
In
1984 Mitterrand and his second Prime Minister,
Laurent Fabius clearly abandoned any further socialist measures. Since then, the Socialists have been in practice a moderate
social democratic party, largely embracing the
market economy. Because of this, the Socialist party is often criticised by groups further to the left such as the
Workers' Struggle (Lutte Ouvrière) and the
Revolutionary Communist League as being no longer a truly socialist party.
The PS lost the majority in the National Assembly in 1986, forcing Mitterrand to "cohabit" with the conservative governement of Jacques Chirac. But, Mitterrand was reelected President in 1988 and one month later, the Socialist Party obtained a relative majority in the National Assembly.
Michel Rocard, a member of the right-wing of the party, is chosen for Prime minister. His government proposed an "opening" in direction to the center-right, in vain. During his second presidency, Mitterrand focused on the foreign policy and the European build. He let the home policy to his Prime ministers: Michel Rocard,
Edith Cresson and
Pierre Bérégovoy. But the party is splashed by scandals and weakened by the struggle between the heirs of
mitterrandism. Furthemore, the "leftwing people" was disappointed by the results of the Socialist governments. At the
1993 legislative election, the PS is sanctionned and returned to the SFIO level of the 1960s.
At the
1995 presidential election, François Mitterrand retired, and the Socialist candidate,
Lionel Jospin, was defeated by
Jacques Chirac.
In 1997, however, the Socialists gained a majority with the Communists, Greens and Leftwing Radicals in the National Assembly and Jospin became Prime Minister, following a policy that was broadly progressive but had little to do with socialism as traditionally understood. Chirac again defeated Jospin in the
presidential elections of 2002, and Jospin then retired from politics. Later in
2002 the Socialists were defeated by Chirac's allies in
parliamentary elections. In the
2004 regional elections, however, the Socialists had a major comeback. In coalition with the Greens and Communists, they gained power in 20 of the 22 metropolitan regions (all except
Alsace and
Corsica) and in the four overseas regions. The leader of the Socialist Party is now its prime secretary,
François Hollande.
With respect to politics, however, the Socialist Party has since the 2002 defeat experienced considerable difficulty trying to propose an alternative program to the policy of the right. One factor is the latent divisions between presidential hopefuls
François Hollande,
Dominique Strauss-Kahn,
Ségolène Royal and
Laurent Fabius; another is the internal movement, the
Nouveau Parti Socialiste ("New Socialist Party"), which pushes for more "left-wing" policies.
On
December 1,
2004, 59% of the members of the Socialist Party decided to approve the proposed
European Constitution. However, several well-known members of the Party, including
Laurent Fabius, and left-wingers
Henri Emmanuelli and
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, asked the voters to vote "no" in the
29 May 2005 French referendum on the European Constitution, at which the proposed Constitution was rejected.The split over the European Constitution, and ambitions for the Socialist candidacy to the
2007 presidential election, have led the party into considerable disarray.
However, at a general congress in November 2005 in Le Mans, virtually all factions agreed on a common agenda, broadly based on the moderate and pro-European majority's position with some left-wing amendments. The party is due to choose a candidate for the 2007 presidential elections in November 2006.
*
Alain Savary (1969-1971)
*
François Mitterrand (1971-1981)
*
Lionel Jospin (1981-1988)
*
Pierre Mauroy (1988-1992)
*
Laurent Fabius (1992-1993)
*
Michel Rocard (1993-1994)
*
Henri Emmanuelli (1994-1995)
*Lionel Jospin (1995-1997)
*
François Hollande (1997-)
*
Parti Socialiste - Official site
*
History of France*
Socialism*
Section Française de l'Internationale Ouvrière (SFIO), the ancestor of the PS
*
Workers and Peasants Socialist Party
